FIRE OR FOG….
After my exciting visit from “Trace” and the triplets..hubby called to say that the fog that he sees so often, was looking good..
SO….I jumped in the car and off I went….I didn’t get far…I kept getting side-tracked by things along the way….
I’M NOT WALKING IN THERE…
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JUST PRETTY
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THE PHOTOGRAPHER AS TRIPOD?…
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DON’T LOOK IF YOU DON’T LIKE BUGS..
Life….Some days you’re the bird…
Some days you’re the bug…
(LOOK AT THE IMAGE CLOSELY)
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TABLE MANNERS….
O.K. class….our lesson today will be on dining with elegance and style.
How many of you out there are at this very moment, eating a snack
without using your hands? Class….is this acceptable??
How many of you out there feel that it is permissible to sit on the
table while dining? Do you think that it is permissible to invite your
dinner companion to sit on the table WITH you while dining?
If it is a first date, do you think you should at least wait until the second
date before eating from each other’s plates?
Well done so far class! Only four of you felt that climbing onto the
table was appropriate in a formal setting…(bulldogsturf , aFrankAngle, El Guapo
and photosfromtheloonybin…I’ll need to see you after class.)
And lastly, your final grade depends upon this answer…
so think carefully about your response before you raise your hand.
If you thought that no one would catch you….would you climb onto
the table, put your feet on someone else’s plate
and then walk on their food??
Class dismissed.
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APPROACHES….
FIRST APPROACH……RAIN PRECIOUS RAIN !!!!!! THE FIRST FEW DROPS…
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THE SECOND APPROACH….
HAVE WE MET ???
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TODAY IT WAS HOT…..
Today was a day, just like oh so many days we’ve had this spring…HOT HOT HOT!!
We’re in a terrible drought…trees dropping their leaves like it’s fall, lakes
dropping to very low levels..
I don’t know what the temp was today,,somewhere in the nineties again….
so today it was time to take action…or as much as we can take action…some
areas of town have watering restrictions…we are on a well, so it’s our call.
I watched the squirrels this morning and the hotter it gets, the more they use
their tails as little sun umbrellas to keep cool….the hotter it gets, the lower
their tails get over their heads…
Late this afternoon I saw something that just broke my heart….
Two robins who were obviously over heated….the longer I watched them sit with
their beaks open…to help cool them….the more they started to lean over toward
the ground…they seemed to be really close to….I don’t know…collapse?, death?
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They were holding back, watching the squirrels in the bird baths, not daring to
come too close to them…but you could tell they really wanted to get to the water..
I found any somewhat flat container that I could and filled it with water…then hubby
came home and turned on the lawn sprinkler…he’s my hero…within a short time, there
was a female cardinal simply sitting in the gentle spray and not too long after, the
robins found the water….tomorrow I buy ANOTHER bird bath !!
So here are a few images that did my heart good…even just the spray of the water
was beautiful..
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THROUGH THE SPRINKLER
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FIRST HE TRIED TO HYPNOTIZE ME…….
Luckily I have come to my senses and realized that the Squirrels, ninja and
non-ninja, are really not out to get me…it was all just one big misunderstanding.
Having said that, today I had a remarkable experience..I was hanging out of
my window into the woods, just having a look around when a little squirrel
approached.
I was unprepared when he called up to me and said, “Hey lady, do you
want to know the kind of day I’ve had?” Well you can imagine! It was a
feeling almost like the fellow who had the gorillas all over him!
( If you missed that video, you have NO idea what I’m talking about, but
it’s o.k.,,,I forgive you).
I was stunned beyond belief, STUNNED, I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For some reason I felt like “Christopher Robin” to the little Squirrel’s
“Winnie the Pooh”. I was all ears…..I said “tell me your tale, (not tail),
little Squirrel of the Woods.
With no hesitation the little guy chattered away furiously…..
I was minding my own business when one of the larger squirrels started
calling softly to me…..”You are getting sleepy…you are getting sleepy…
your eyes are getting heavier and heavier…”
Well it was beyond my control….I felt myself starting to fall into a light sleep…..
Right before I fell asleep I dragged myself up into the bird bath where I lay as if drugged….
After about five minutes I recovered and I gathered my immense Squirrel strength
and decided that I was NOT GOING TO BE ANOTHER VICTIM OF A SQUIRREL MUGGING!…..
I saw my enemy and impressed him first by leaping a tall building in a single bound…
I raced around the bird bath, up the tree limb and gave that sassy, smart- alecky Hypnotist Squirrel
a slap…..right in the “kisser”…..
Then I went home.
The little Squirrel of the Woods was out of breath and emotionally spent…so I gave him some
lemonade. There wasn’t much to say after that….he trotted off to the woods and I was left
hanging out of my window into the woods…wondering what had just happened.
Am I now the “Doctor Doolittle” of the woods?, able to talk to the animals, walk with the animals,
hang from the trees with the animals?….Hmmmmmmm… I’ll be back….I have a tree to climb.
SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT…
This is not a bird that people get real excited about…but I really enjoy them…
this is a crow..and a backyard visitor..they’re very smart and very entertaining,
and they’re scared of squirrels…even though they’re bigger than the squirrels!
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THE EGRET AND THE IBIS
AND NOW IF YOU WILL ALL FORGIVE ME,
I WILL PROCEED TO TRASH AND MANGLE
POETRY AS WE KNOW IT….
(I mean no disrespect..I’m just no good at the technical bits)
THE EGRET IS A GRACEFUL BIRD,
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CATCHING FOOD IN JUST A “BLINK”.
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BUT YELLOW SOCKS CANNOT COMPARE,
TO “BOOTIES” THAT ARE PINK!
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SHARKTOOTH HUNTING…IT’S LIKE PULLING TEETH!
And now I will introduce you to a passion of mine….SHARK TOOTH HUNTING!!
Whenever I get the chance to go to Florida, there is never any doubt that I will spend
at least part of my visit, shark tooth hunting…
I’m still not sure why the area that I visit, Venice Florida, has so many shark’s
teeth…but there is a fossil bed that runs under this area of land.
After a shark dies, all that is left eventually are the teeth. They get buried under the sand and over
the eons of time, they become fossilized. As the tide washes in and recedes, these
teeth are uncovered, wash in, and then are swept back out to become covered
with sand once again.
There are parts of Florida that were not under water at one time and animal life
lived and died in this area…those areas,eventually were covered with water
and the bone from these animals became covered with sediment and eventaully
fossilized…So in addition to finding the teeth of sharks, you can also find fossilized
horses teeth!
It’s pretty cool to think that you are the first human to touch these teeth
after millions of years have passed.
This is a sport where SPEED AND AGILITY are crucial…(Well, not always)..
But most of the time, these teeth wash in with the waves, and are pulled right
back out, so you’ve got to grab it fast…I use a “Florida snow shovel”, to scoop
along the edge of the water. You dredge up a bunch of sand, shake it up and down
in the water to wash out the little stuff, and yahoo!!!, if you’re lucky there will
be a shark’s tooth in amongst the shells .
Several years ago, I was thrilled to find a Megalodon shark tooth while wading
in the water…no scooping was involved, I just looked down and there it was!
The image you see on this post will show you the size of the tooth,
compared to what I normally find. This tooth is a “baby tooth” for this shark..The Megalodon
would grow to be up to 60 feet long and was the largest shark that ever lived.
I now have over 21,000 sharks teeth, tiger sharks, bull sharks, lemon sharks,
mako sharks, etc. and I am going to start rehab any day now
to conquer my addiction. (heehee). I know you’ll think I’m kidding, but I’ve
actually had people ask me if I pulled the teeth out of a shark’s mouth…
This is my serious post of the day….Oh! And just to back up my story, here’s
a short video...http://youtu.be/hcFlDQozc6g
Also here are some facts…http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/fossils/megalodon.html
A FELLOW SHARK TOOTH HUNTER (ALSO KNOW AS AN “ADDICT”)
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- THIS COULD GIVE YOU NIGHTMARES!
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- TREASURE!
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WEST AGAIN…
I’m still dreaming of the West…
Don’t wake me…
DON’T WORRY, MOTHER NATURE MADE THEM FALL OFF.
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- THE CHASE IS ON!
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- THE WILD.
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HE’S BACK AT IT AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
After the last episode of chipmunk madness, I figured he would retire…
I was wrong.
I CAN’T LOOK !!!!!!!!!!
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- GO TO YOUR ROOM JUNIOR, YOU’VE BEEN A BAD BOY!
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FEATHERS….I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT A PILLOW.
I’ve been watching my fine feathered friends again….they never cease to amaze me..
One thing I think we humans ought to be able to do is fly…under our own power..
Just imagine,,,no gasoline to buy, but then of course our food budget would go up,
all that flying would make us hungry…We’d be burning about 3000 calories
an hour.
Then of course there’d be no insurance to buy..well we might need SOME…
I mean there are collisions to consider…and speed limits to set …and we’d need air traffic
Officers?…… oh this is getting over-whelming!
On the “up-side” we could buy nifty flying outfits,,decorated with little feathers
and even feather covered helmets to protect our heads..ooooohhh, maybe
with some glitter and rhinestones..OH !,,,where was I? Oh Yes,,,
We could zip around to our hearts content…lots of “me” time…of course taking the
kids to school could be a problem..there’s only room for one passenger..
and how about teaching our kids to fly…would we have to find a ledge and push
them off ???? Just kidding….
And then there’s the nightmare of those who drink and “fly”….
And what about people who like music when they’re traveling, could we allow
them to sing? It would be like second hand cigarette smoke,,if they sound awful and
make us want to throw up, will there be a law for that?
And what if you’re flying RIGHT beside your husband and you say
“we’re lost” and he says, “no we’re not”…who can get the map out???
Our arms would be busy flapping…and there wouldn’t even be a gas station
to stop at….Sigh….Oh, well,,back to square one.
USE YOUR BRAKES !!!! USE YOUR BRAKES !!!!
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- I WANT A FLYING OUTFIT LIKE SHE’S WEARING..I
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- LEAN TO THE RIGHT! LEAN TO THE RIGHT!! OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE
NOT READY TO FLY ON YOUR OWN YET
- GET OFF MY “BUMPER” BUDDY!!!!! WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO FLY?
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WEST.
I’m dreaming of the west again…..this particular place lingers.
So climb on the plane with me…and let’s go back.
FLY WITH ME…
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- THE MISSION MOUNTAIN RANGE
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- WHERE DREAMS LIVE
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- CAN THIS BE REAL?
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THE POWER AND THE PRIDE…
THE POWER 1
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- THE POWER 2
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- THE PRIDE
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AN ACT OF AGGRESSION!
Well I don’t know what to say…I knew squirrels were tough, but wow…
very possessive of their trees!
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JOY! JOY! JOY!
Today is an AWESOME day!
Apart from the fun I had with all of you concerning Baldy and Philippe,
this morning something wonderful happened!!!
I haven’t seen ANY deer for at least two months..no signs of the trails
being used, nothing…a mystery…sad….but now,,THEY’RE BACK!!!!!!!!
Three!!!!!!!!!! I am one happy girl 
NOT A GREAT PICTURE, THEY WERE MOVING AND I WASN'T PREPARED!!!
YOUR FLIGHT IS CANCELLED..
YES, I'M PINCHING YOUR FEATHER, AND YOUR PROBLEM IS ?
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CAN'T WE DISCUSS THIS AS TWO MATURE ADULTS?
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HAVE YOU NOTICED? THEY NEVER GIVE YOU PEANUTS WHEN YOU FLY ANYMORE.
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HOPPING MAD
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YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME..I SEE YOU..AND YOU!
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OOOHHH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO EAT FIRST!
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THIS LITTLE GUY HAD NO PROBLEM JUMPING
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each other at times. I’ve never seen them actually grab seeds and nuts
out of the pot at the same time before..
You’ll also see an image of a Blue Jay hopping into the air on this
post today…He was SO mad that I was snapping shots…seriously,
he looked right at me and continued to jump up and down for about a
minute. Just hopping wasn’t enough, he was screaming at me also.
The Cardinal got worked up when he caught sight of his own reflection in
the window..(it’s actually reflected TWICE!) Glad he gave up on that
pretty quickly, sometimes they carry on about the “intruder” for
months.
A woodpecker came to call, to my surprise. They usually are very
nervous and leave when other birds approach, but he held his
ground today.
The squirrel was hilarious! He spent about forty-five minutes leaping
up, grabbing a peanut and then racing off to the woods to hide it.
He also spent a fair amount of time chasing another squirrel who
was apparently closer to the food than a quarter mile and this
posed a BIG problem for him..very territorial.
It was a little upsetting today. To my surprise a landscape fellow
showed up and was spraying stuff on the lawn to inhibit crab grass
growth! I spent an hour hosing the stuff off of the grass so none
of the birds or squirrels would ingest the nasty chemicals.
I felt so badly for one little squirrel today. He must have fallen
out of a tree! His right front foot must be broken…he wasn’t able
to get up to the feeder for the peanuts, couldn’t trust that paw
to grab hold..so after I sprayed off the grass, I moved the
feeder right up against the branches so that it can just walk right
up and have a seat.
Well, you may be wondering why I called this post…”your flight
is cancelled”. Today you are only getting images of “the flight
crew”, the Blue Jays, grounded. No take offs, no landings, just
sitting on the tarmac talking about what they’re going to have
for lunch.
I DREAMED A DREAM, AND IT CAME TRUE !!!!
Well, now that the squirrel has been crowned, (and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him), I’d like
to share something with you.
I’ve LOVED photography for many years now. When I pick up the camera and see the world
through that lens, well, there is just nothing like it. I always say it “fills me up”. It’s
like I put in the last little puzzle piece, and I am complete. I am totally who I’m supposed
to be. I am so grateful that my husband “gifted” me with my first camera and encouraged me
every step of the way.
A few days ago I received an email that had me running through the house with excitement, waking
my husband up and disturbing the “marsh-mellow roast” that was taking place out back. Jelly and
his cousin were apparently playing baseball with the roasted “tasty-items”. I was not being negligent,
he’s 26 for goodness sake, who would have thought he’d be doing that..don’t worry the woods are
still standing, no fires.
Back to my special moment that I hope you don’t mind my sharing with you. One of my dreams, right in
between being published by National Geographic, and actually going on a photo expedition with them..
was to be published by the National Wildlife Federation. They do such excellent work.
Amazing all that they do for the protection and conservation of wildlife. Well here it is….
they published one of my photos!!!! Thought I would cry,,then wondered if
I’d be sick…..over-whelmed. So I hope you don’t mind if I share my happiness with you….
It just goes to show, you never know what could happen next, and sometimes, dreams do come true.
I’m going to put the link here and on the sidebar, so that I can stare at it whenever I want…
my little treasure. OH….Scroll down to picture number 8….
FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THROW YOURSELVES INTO THOSE COMFY CHAIRS, ‘CAUSE HERE IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Please forgive me..heehee
BACK TO REFLECTING
I found myself drawn back to the Ten Acre Woods where the horses spend so
much of their time…I did get awesome video of them and I’ll post that soon.
The day was gorgeous and the woods, serene as always. I captured these
images and I hope you’ll enjoy them..The color was so different from my
previous visit and I found myself captivated. Hope you enjoy! I have no idea how all of this techno babble appeared below some of the images, but I am
powerless to correct it..i.e., technology impaired. Sorry
LILY PADS
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1843...ONE
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1846...TWO
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1847...THREE
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NO NEED TO HOSPITALIZE ME…I CAN GET MY FOOT OUT OF MY MOUTH BY MYSELF.
I think I went a bit too far with my silliness today..I may have led people to
believe that it was seriously suggested that I need mental help…Not so…
Just my inept attempt at humor. I’ve had some really kind posts full of reassurance
and it has meant so much to me..but I’m also embarrassed that I caused concern..
So….forgive this overly dramatic blogger for her embellishments if you can…
I will now post some sedate images and while you enjoy them, I will work on getting my
foot out of my mouth.
Sandhill Crane One
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SANDHILL CRANE TWO
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MY FAVORITE SEAGULL
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MR. MAJESTY
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RED………….SORRY NO SQUIRREL SIGHTINGS TODAY….SO….JUST RED
Blarg……………no squirrel sightings today…although I have been hearing rumors that
the next installment of the squirrel-o-mentary should be ready within a week!!
We’ve been so bored that we’ve been discussing favorite colors…mine is red……….so……
here’s some red……………sorry I think my brain is fried after the last two days of
chocolate fueled blogging….can you believe that I’ve actually had people suggesting
that I might need to be hospitalized for observation ?!?? I admit I have my
fascinating moments,such as trying to explain how I managed to tape my hands together
while using mailing tape…but hospitalization?, you go to far!!
So…on with the red…my feeling are hurt and I must go lick my wounds.
RED BLAZE
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RED ONE
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RED TWO
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RED THREE
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SNOWY MASK
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SNOWY MASK TWO
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THE J'MANS PRIDE AND JOY
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THE THRONE IS PREPARED…THE HAT(s) ARE IN PLACE..
Are you anywhere near Candy?, or a comfy chair???? Presenting….THE THRONE!
All is ready and we are waiting, waiting so see the little squirrel show up…..
You can see that one little squirrel already stopped by, but he just wanted to
speak to me about a personal matter.
We have suspended each hat, so that If and when “Baldy” sits down to eat a peanut
we can “crown” him with the hat then and there….I wonder which hat he’ll like the
best? I cannot say that I have a personal favorite..but I did take one to Florida
with me when I was taking my little break….I won’t say which one…If you feel
like letting me know which one you like the best, I’m sure Nia and myself would
love to hear your comments…
This post is dedicated to my buddy who had surgery today! You’ll be up and
about in no time…but hopefully, if it won’t cause you any pain, you’ll get
a laugh out of this!
Could we talk? I'm having some anxiety.
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HAT NUMBER ONE
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HAT NUMBER TWO
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HAT NUMBER THREE
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